Time is Running Out

 

In J.R.R Tolkien's book, The Fellowship of the Ring, when the final war for Middle Earth was at hand, Frodo has the following conversation with Gandalf:

"I wish it had not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

And so, I pose that same question to any who dare to consider, What are you doing with the time given you?

As mentioned in a previous blog, I have encountered a bend in the road that has caused me to come to a dead halt for what I believe is a very specific time and purpose. As the prophetic clock is ticking away, many choose to look the other way, remain stuck thinking only about their desires, rather than the good of all. They are totally missing what is actually in play. The eyes of many have been so blinded spiritually that it makes me wonder just who is paying attention to what God is saying, especially as it relates to the church. Now I am not an ordained minister, but I do know what the Bible says, and rather than consult man when I need an opinion, I choose to look at the infallible Word of the Lord, and more specifically, I ask what does God have to say about the subject. I have been saying all along that the warning bells are ringing. But it continues to go unheeded by many who choose to look the other way when God is very clear on what He thinks. As a favorite pastor of mine says quite often, "God has spoken and He has not stuttered."

 I was reminded in a message recently that there are numerous promises about the faithfulness of God, and yes, they are true, and we can find comfort. But, they are true for the believer and follower of Jesus Christ, not the unbeliever and not for those believers who are not adhering to His Word. It can't be both ways, as Israel, God's chosen people found out on more than one occasion. I know that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, as I alluded to in my previous blog. But I also said that God will not be mocked. In the book of Revelation, Jesus speaks to the seven churches, and He is doing so at this time. Although I am part of more than one international prayer groups, and I am standing in the gap, praying for repentance individually, as a part of the church, and for the nation as a whole, God may not stay His judgment on this nation. I have never witnessed such a growing apathy and apostasy in the faith, outright rebellion of the laws of God. But many true disciples are praying, repenting, interceding for the nation to come back to God, and it is my prayer that this is a sweet smelling savor unto the Lord. In one circle there are over 88,000 praying daily, continuously, and I know there are many more such groups. The Scripture says that "The fervent, effectual prayer of a righteous man avails much." (James 5:16)

At the same time, the chaos in the nation continues to spiral out of control, and do you notice that most of the evil and destruction is occurring in the wee hours of the morning while the rest of the nation sleeps? That is not surprising to me. In fact, nothing that is happening today is surprising to me. We are in intense spiritual warfare, but it is not spoken of in the light of day or by many pastors, because it seems scary. You bet it's scary, and it will become more so in days to come. This is why the church needs to awaken to the clarion call. But none of this is new. The Apostle Paul was sent to preach to the Gentile nation, because Israel, the chosen people of God, had closed their minds to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Before his death, Paul tried once more to preach the truth to the hardhearted Jewish leaders of his day. Listen to his words in Acts 28:24-27:

     Some were persuaded by the things he said, but others did not believe. And after they had argued       back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul: "The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet, 'Go and say to this people, when you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes - so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.'" (Isaiah 6:9-10)

The other day I watched a movie on Pure Flix, a Christian alternative to Netflix. The movie was called In the Blink of an Eye, and it was about an unsaved man who repeated the events of the Rapture over and over. Each time, his wife and friends disappeared, while the man and the other people around him remained. The man was a detective who had shunned his friend's sharing of the gospel on many occasions, but as each disappearance occurred, he began to take note of specific events before and after, futilely attempting to manipulate the results. Each day after going through these disappearances and the resulting confusion, he would be awakened again by his wife, and the events would play out again, and again, until the end. This man was given four opportunities to understand the reality of what was happening before it was too late. In the end, he even attempted to contact his police supervisor, an atheist, and share the gospel with him. When he did not accept the gospel message, the man warned him not to take the mark of the beast. Of course, the supervisor had no idea what this meant, but sadly, he was about to find out. He even sat down with another person involved in the secondary plot of the movie, and he gave her a Bible and pointed her to the appropriate scriptures, in the hope that she would accept Christ as Savior before the Rapture. In the end, the man is on the beach with his wife and friends, and at the appointed time, the Raptures occurs. Sadly, in real life, God does not give rehearsals for the Rapture. When the appointed time comes, Jesus will return. But God does give warnings and specific signs in His Word. In fact Jesus encourages His disciples about the coming events and warnings.

Many signs, called birth pains by Jesus, have and continue to occur in rapid succession. These warnings are becoming so blatantly obvious that they cannot be ignored, and yet, they are. The heart of many have waxed cold. Sadness fills my heart as I watch as people try to destroy themselves and hurt others for no apparent reason except that they hold differing opinions. I am not surprised as the Gospel message is not being preached in the churches, and the prayer altars are closed. Communion has become a ritual rather than the holy remembrance of Jesus Christ it was intended. The words of great hymns like Amazing Grace and What a Friend We Have in Jesus are sung without meaning. Perhaps I'm just so grateful that God pursued me and accepted me and forgave my sins and saved my wretched soul that to this day I weep when I sing these hymns. I can never forget what my Abba Father and my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has done for me. And I will continue to stand in prayer as an intercessor in repentance for my own sins and the sins of our nation, beginning with the church, to return to God and make Jesus Christ Lord over all, as it was ordained to be since the birth of Creation. Scripture says in Proverbs 14:34 that, "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." Sadly, God is not pleased with this nation, and we are seeing the fruit of evil playing out before us in unprecedented ways. But God is raising up an army of believers in Christ who are not afraid and who are not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are standing, fully armored, crying out as one Body for righteousness and justice. We are standing for reformation and a revival that will shake this nation from it's sleep before it is too late.

I don't know all the Lord has to say to me in this of isolation, but I do know that I will do, I will say, and I will go wherever He leads. Even if it means the threat of death. Think I'm being dramatic? Read your Bible, then pray God opens your spiritual eyes while there is still time. God is asking us to choose life, so my response is simply this:

My Vision

 

Before the nation was aware of the rise of the coronavirus outbreak, and before the beginning of the racial unrest, the Lord spoke to me saying to arise and pray as something was about to be unleashed, and He needed my full attention. Instantly, the strongholds that had attempted to keep me bound were broken, and my eyes were opened to the battle already ensuing. Prior to this I had already been engaged in spiritual warfare, but the enemy fought frantically to keep me under his thumb of condemnation. I can always clearly see his tactics, as I know the enemy well, so he could not succeed in keeping me from prayer. In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 we are instructed: "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." Further, scripture tells us in Philippians 4:4-8: "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think on these things." My focus became more centered on what my Father was showing me, my eyes fixed on Jesus Christ alone. 

It has been my daily practice to put on the whole armor of God as instructed in Ephesians 6, but I began to understand that words must become life for those for whom I pray. So as I prayed for others the Lord would bring to mind, and as I asked for divine protection and revelation knowledge be given to each, I could sense the presence of the demonic entities assigned. Ephesians 6:10-18 instructs: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

I have been urging true disciples of Jesus Christ to arise and shine, rather than fall to the enemy of defeat and acceptance. Now the Lord urges me to say, "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." (Ephesians 5:14) This is a clear mandate to fellow believers to rise to action, put off lethargy and advance the kingdom of God on this earth. The battle going on is far worse than mortal eye can see, but God will have His way. For the past two weeks the Lord allowed me to be "quarantined" for His purpose. I developed a case of Shingles that I am told is rare, as it attacked my face, mouth, ear and ear canal, as well as the entire half of my head. Touching a single hair on my head is actually painful. Although I am healing, this time has been spent listening to the voice of my Father, instructing me, showing me how to pray. The enemy does not like defeat, so he also threatened my daughter's life, not once, but three times in the past two months. The enemy cannot destroy a child of the living God. While speaking with a friend of mine, who often questions where God is in the midst of suffering and chaos, I had to silence the enemy when asked where is God in my and my daughter's battles. My entire life, as has my daughter's, has been riddled with pain, physical abuse, and various torments, but we will never say that our Father is not present with us each step of the way. My Abba Father stands right beside me, our Lord Jesus Christ does not change, and Holy Spirit remains within us strengthening us come what may. Whereas the enemy has tried on numerous occasions to put a wedge between my daughter and myself, this is yet another battle he cannot win. The Lord holds us in His righteous right hand, and NO weapon that is formed against us will prosper! (Isaiah 57:17) I don't ask God "why," rather I ask Him to speak to me and teach me. As with Job's trials, God has a plan and purpose for everything. This time is a holy time, and we choose to see it as such. So no, my friend, He never leaves us, and we trust Him with all things that concern us. God is very much present right beside us, and however He chooses to get my attention, I welcome it.

Yesterday was a restless day for me, and as the day progressed to evening, I spoke to the Lord, and I asked how to direct my prayers. I had been listening earlier to a pastor speak on listening prayer, and I am fully aware of how God speaks to me in this way. I know His voice, but it was extremely quiet yesterday at this time. Before drifting off to sleep I remember looking at a live stream of a prophet speaking about the current uprisings within our United States and prophesying what is to come. I drifted asleep near the end of it into a peaceful sleep. At some point in time I remember being shaken awake to hear and see people on the screen raging and threatening all the people who voted for President Trump in this election. A woman said that Trump supporters did not deserve to live. The hatred and venom continued to spew from the mouths of the media and the political leaders I witnessed before my eyes. Now whether this actually played on my computer or whether it was a vision, as with the young man I saw on the streets of the city near me awhile back, I do not know. But the message was very clear. After this, I could not go back to sleep, so I began to talk to the Lord. I felt such sadness for the ugly and vile things being spewed, which were like in kind to those I actually did hear for myself on social media by a US Representative threatening similar vengeance  against all who did not stand with the Democratic Party. The enemy roams around in the darkness of the night using those whose eyes have been blinded to the Light of Jesus Christ. They are to be pitied, not scorned, or feared. The demonic spirit of Jezebel has been loosed upon our unsuspecting nation, but the prophets of Elijah and Elisha are likewise present in this age.

The Lord is clearly speaking. The church of Jesus Christ, the disciples who are not cowering in their homes, or depressed, or otherwise incredulous, are being instructed to wake up!  Jesus is coming back, and He is coming for a church, a bride without spot or wrinkle, a unified church. God wants His people to speak out for righteousness and justice, standing on the infallible Word of the Lord. No more lukewarm sermons and avoiding the message of the Gospel. This fight is not about a man or a party. This is about God as the Head of all Government. He alone puts leaders in place, and He alone takes them out. We may be given a say, but He will not be mocked. He is removing His hand from this nation, so if we believe in One Nation Under God, then we had better stand up as the Body of Christ and proclaim it as such. But, just be aware, if God in His mercy spares us for a season from total judgment, what comes next will not be pleasant. He has warned, and the church has not heeded! But, also be aware, repentance and revival will shake this land.

This morning in my devotional time, I read the following, and this is how I feel about my life. It belongs to Jesus, and my eyes will stay fixed on Him alone as the Author and Finisher of my faith. I pray you heed this clarion call:

"The apostles and disciples in the book of Acts saw themselves as expendable in the service of their Lord. Self-preservation was the last thought on their minds. They were totally, unreservedly available to their Lord. You can see that attitude in a number of verses from Paul's letters: 

    "It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son         of God who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

    "For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better" (Philippians 1:21). 

 

"If self-promotion or self-preservation is your goal in life, you have yet to discover the liberating power of expendability. But once you see your time, talents, and treasure as 100 percent available in the service of the Lord, then you'll be able to say with Paul: "But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus - the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God" (Acts 20:24)."